If you are a home or a business owner looking to protect your property from intruders, thieves, burglars and the like, then you have come to the right place. What is the meaning of an "IP DVR"? What does IP enabled DVR mean? First off the DVR stands for Digital Video Recorder, a staple of home and business security. When in the old times there used to be VCR tapes, they have nowadays been replaced by digital equivalents, digital video recorders. They allow recording of security video cameras for weeks and months at a time without a worry to run out of tape. But what does the IP stand for. Simple. With the advent of the internet communications, the internet protocol (IP) has been established. It basically assigns temporary or permanent IP address to any device attached to the internet.

So bottom line, if your DVR device is IP enabled, you can connect it to the internet, just like a laptop or a PC computer. The great part about the IP-enabled DVRs is that you can monitor the video cameras on your property with an IP enabled DVR from any location in the world where you have internet access.

Even better, when your IP-enabled DVR also uses the latest, H.264 compression technology, the compression of the video information is so strong that you can view the goings-on at your property from anywhere in the world where you have an G3 wireless connection. So you can check on your house or business with your iPhone, smart phone, or any internet enabled phone that is powerful enough to display video.

A good example of an IP-enabled, or IP-Addressable, DVR is Clover Electronics CDR0850 IP Addressable Stand-Alone 8-Channel DVR, available at Amazon. It features 8 channel, a superb 720 x 480 resolution, a 320 GB capacity, and a total of 240 frames per second, which translates into 30 frames per second if you use all eight channels. This is more than sufficient for most security and surveillance purposes.

So now that we have clarified what IP DVR, or IP-enabled DVR means, it is up to you to ask yourself whether this kind of DVR is for you. Do you travel away from home or business a lot? Would you like to? Do you own properties far away that you would like to observe in real time? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then maybe an investment into an IP DVR is right for you. Otherwise, you could stay with a DVR that is not IP enabled and simply view the recordings from the premises, locally.

For additional info on how to view your premises remotely, see IP DVR. For a PCI connected DVR check out DVR PCI cards.